KARACHI: Shoaib Mansoor’s Verna got released in the country on Friday evening after a battle with the censor board.

Central Board of Film Censors (CBFC) chairman Mubashir Hasan confirmed to Dawn.com that the board had passed Verna “without any cuts or mutes”.

Earlier in the day, he tweeted from his official account (@BABUCRATE): “#Verna has been granted “U” Censor Certificate by #CBFC.”

According to Hum Films’ PR representatives, the film will be screened in Sindh, Islamabad and cantonment areas across the country, but it awaits a No Objection Certificate in Punjab — the decision of which was expected later in the day.

Director Mansoor confirmed to Dawn.com that the film is releasing uncut in the above-mentioned areas. The Information Ministry has also cleared Verna for a nationwide release.

Hum Films’ PR team confirmed that the film is releasing internationally on schedule.

Actress Mahira Khan tweeted from her verified account (@TheMahiraKhan): “Thank you to all those who supported #verna — the people, the media, those at the censor board..thank you so much! Hoping for Punjab to clear Verna today as well.”

Objections

Earlier, the CBFC banned Verna due to “unanimous objections” raised by a panel of the CBFC to the film.

According to Nadeem Mandviwalla, the CEO of Atrium Cinemas, every film in the country has to be looked at by three boards — for Islamabad it’s the central board while for Punjab and Sindh there are provincial boards. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan rely on the CBFC.

Discussing the process, Mr Mandviwalla said that it usually took a few days to clear a film. “Recently censor boards have become accommodating. By law you have to give them a notice of three to four days but now things have changed,” he said.

“International films usually arrive four days before the release so you only have from Monday to Thursday to clear them,” he added.

Mr Mandviwalla said that he had heard Verna was a good movie and was already up and running in Karachi and Islamabad. He added that it was still waiting for a review from the Punjab censor board.

Published in Dawn, November 18th, 2017